Call of the Void

I have a confession to make. I am afraid of heights.

Albeit it was not like that always. I have stood on the edge on the roof and was able to look down. It was in college when I realized I had height issues.

Strange as it sounds having a tall height and short railings would make sure that I stood a feet away instead of being on the edge.

A few years back, it took a worse hit when I visited a place where interior was taking place. Standing on the 12th floor, I was not able to look down and when I sat on a bed next to an open wall without window, railings with hardly a few distance.

As I walked towards the bed and looked outside, I had this voice in my mind prompting me to jump out of the window. As weird as it sounds I did not pay any heed to it but I did ponder on it on the back of my mind why would such a thought would come to my mind?

I had completely forgotten about until it happened again.

Strange, a voice inside your head telling you to jump and there is no coming back from it. Why would one think in such a way? Was the subconscious at play? Trying to telling something? Was it all a figment of imagination for all to begin with?

There were no answers.

Did my own sanity saved the day for me? Made me think about those people jumping from high-rise buildings, did they listened to that voice in their mind as their own and took the step...

I had confided about this to a family member. A few days ago they told me that one of their friends also experienced such an incident and apparently it has a name.

Its called "Call of the Void" or as they say in French "l’appel du vide".

Studies have been conducted to understand this phenomenon but there has not been a complete breakthrough on why the mind would say something that would end up hurting or killing yourself?

It is very normal to happen and can happen to people with no history of depression, mental illness, suicidal tendencies, etc.

If you’re among those who experience the call of the void, it’s usually nothing to worry about. It’s just one of those interesting, mildly scary, not-yet-fully-understood weird tricks of the brain that a lot of people experience (Source).

There is so much to know and so little we know. I would quote from the X-Files "The truth is out there" which pretty much sums it all.

The sad part is not everyone knows about this. Call of the void is a real thing and it would certainly help to make others aware especially those who are hearing those voices.

You may refer below links in case you want to know more:

Link 1
Link 2